Tag: vote

The U.K.’s withdrawal from the EU should be put to a second public vote to overcome the current impasse, the former prime minister of Finland told CNBC Monday. The Brexit deadlock continues after Prime Minister Theresa May presented some changes to her plan to leave the European Union on Monday afternoon. “(If I was) the prime minister of the United Kingdom, I would go back to the people, because the decision of having a new deal is as big as leaving the European Union,” he added. Some U.K. lawm

The U.K.’s withdrawal from the EU should be put to a second public vote to overcome the current impasse, the former prime minister of Finland told CNBC Monday.

The Brexit deadlock continues after Prime Minister Theresa May presented some changes to her plan to leave the European Union on Monday afternoon. This comes after U.K. lawmakers overwhelmingly defeated her proposals last week.

“I still think there are only three options on the table: Number one is the deal as it stands, number two is the hard Brexit … and number three, basically, is a new referendum,” Alexander Stubb, who is currently the vice president of the European Investment Bank, said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

“(If I was) the prime minister of the United Kingdom, I would go back to the people, because the decision of having a new deal is as big as leaving the European Union,” he added.

Some U.K. lawmakers have been pushing for another referendum on Brexit, arguing that people now have a better idea of what leaving the European Union really means.

Speaking in front of the U.K. Parliament, May said that it’s the government’s duty to implement the decision of the first vote.

“I fear a second referendum would set a difficult precedent that could have significant implications for how we handle referendums in this country,” May said.

In one of the more dramatic weeks in British politics, following the defeat of Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit agreement and her government’s survival of a no-confidence vote, calls are now growing for a second Brexit referendum. Political leaders from the Scottish National Party (SNP), Wales’ Plaid Cymru, the Green party and Liberal Democrats are calling on their fellow opposition party, Labour, to join them in calling for a second referendum on Brexit, known now as a “People’s Vote.” Pasca

In one of the more dramatic weeks in British politics, following the defeat of Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit agreement and her government’s survival of a no-confidence vote, calls are now growing for a second Brexit referendum.

Political leaders from the Scottish National Party (SNP), Wales’ Plaid Cymru, the Green party and Liberal Democrats are calling on their fellow opposition party, Labour, to join them in calling for a second referendum on Brexit, known now as a “People’s Vote.”

In an open letter to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn following the unsuccessful vote of no confidence which he called, and which the other opposition parties had supported, the party leaders said they were writing to “implore” him to now support their calls for “a People’s Vote on the final Brexit deal.”

Pascal Lamy, former World Trade Organization chief, told CNBC Thursday that he too believed a second referendum “is now an option.”

“I would not have said that six months ago and I was among those who believed that the odds of a new referendum were extremely low but I think they’re clearly higher now. But of course for such a scenario to appear there has to be a ‘stop the clock’ between the U.K. and EU.”

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has narrowly won a confidence vote on Wednesday night, averting a snap elections. Tsipras’ government won the vote with 151 lawmakers, out of 300, supporting him. “It’s highly likely” that there will be an early election in Greece, Mujtaba Rahman, managing director at Eurasia Group told CNBC on Thursday. “This will make completing the current parliamentary term in office a near-impossible job,” Wolfango Piccoli, co-president of Teneo Intelligence said in a note. “Ho

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has narrowly won a confidence vote on Wednesday night, averting a snap elections. However, the stability of his government could be at risk.

Tsipras’ government won the vote with 151 lawmakers, out of 300, supporting him. The Greek government was thrown into this uncertainty after its coalition partner resigned last week over a naming deal with Macedonia.

But the political situation is still fragile for Tsipras, whose party has only 145 seats in the Greek parliament — making him leader of a minority government.

“It’s highly likely” that there will be an early election in Greece, Mujtaba Rahman, managing director at Eurasia Group told CNBC on Thursday.

Tsipras’ mandate ends in September, but the fact that he now heads a minority government has raised questions about whether he will be able to survive the leadership until then.

“This will make completing the current parliamentary term in office a near-impossible job,” Wolfango Piccoli, co-president of Teneo Intelligence said in a note.

“However, Tsipras will have the advantage of determining the timing of the next vote and approve legislation he deems to be ‘vital’,” Piccoli also said.

The U.K. government led by Prime Minister Theresa May has survived a vote of no confidence. Lawmakers in the U.K.’s lower house of parliament, the House of Commons, voted to defeat the motion raised by the leader of the main opposition Labour party, Jeremy Corbyn, by 325 votes to 306. May was backed by members of the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party and the Brexiteer Conservative Party lawmakers who had voted against her EU withdrawal plan in the same chamber only 24 hours earlier. On Tu

The U.K. government led by Prime Minister Theresa May has survived a vote of no confidence.

Lawmakers in the U.K.’s lower house of parliament, the House of Commons, voted to defeat the motion raised by the leader of the main opposition Labour party, Jeremy Corbyn, by 325 votes to 306.

Immediately after the vote, May said her government would continue to work to deliver on Brexit and said it was their duty to find a way forward that was approved by the House.

May was backed by members of the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party and the Brexiteer Conservative Party lawmakers who had voted against her EU withdrawal plan in the same chamber only 24 hours earlier. On Tuesday evening, lawmakers voted by 432 to 202 to reject May’s Brexit deal.

Votes of no confidence in the government from Labour, Welsh and Scottish nationalists, the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party were not enough to dislodge the current government.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., pushed the sanctions resolution forward as a rebuke to the Treasury Department’s announcement in December that it would lift economic restrictions on Rusal, En+ and other companies in which Deripaska owned stakes. The companies had “committed to significantly diminish Deripaska’s ownership and sever his control,” Treasury said in a statement at the time, adding that Deripaska himself will remain under sanctions. The senator expects the administration

The failure to pass the motion effectively killed the resolution. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., pushed the sanctions resolution forward as a rebuke to the Treasury Department’s announcement in December that it would lift economic restrictions on Rusal, En+ and other companies in which Deripaska owned stakes.

The companies had “committed to significantly diminish Deripaska’s ownership and sever his control,” Treasury said in a statement at the time, adding that Deripaska himself will remain under sanctions.

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, who had warned as a presidential candidate in the 2012 election that Russia is the United States’ top geopolitical foe, voted against Schumer’s resolution.

A spokeswoman for Romney said his vote “was in line with longstanding U.S. policy and will help preserve our leverage to gain concessions from other bad actors. The senator expects the administration to reimpose sanctions if these companies don’t comply.”

Romney’s vote follows a New Year’s Day op-ed in which the former Massachusetts governor, who has been rumored to be mulling a 2020 primary challenge against Trump, signaled he was carving out an independent position from the president.

“Trump’s words and actions have caused dismay around the world,” Romney wrote in the Washington Post op-ed.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had gone to Capitol Hill a day before the vote to address senators’ concerns about the sanctions plan.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was up around 0.3 percent during mid-morning deals, with most sectors and major bourses in positive territory. Looking at individual stocks, Norsk Hydro surged to the top of the European benchmark shortly after 10:00 a.m. London time. Meanwhile, Britain’s Pearson slumped to the bottom of the index during mid-morning deals. The education publisher announced Wednesday that it expects higher savings from cost cuts as it continues to go through a major restructuring. The f

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was up around 0.3 percent during mid-morning deals, with most sectors and major bourses in positive territory.

Europe’s banking index led the gains Wednesday morning, up more than 1 percent as some of Italy’s notoriously fragile lenders pared some of their recent losses. It comes after a prominent Italian lawmaker reportedly said mergers among some of the country’s struggling lenders could help make Rome’s banking system more solid. Italy’s Unicredit, FinecoBank and Intesa Sanpaolo were trading around 2 percent higher on the news.

Looking at individual stocks, Norsk Hydro surged to the top of the European benchmark shortly after 10:00 a.m. London time. Shares of the Oslo-listed stock jumped 5 percent after Brazil’s state authority lifted a production embargo on one of its aluminum refineries.

Meanwhile, Britain’s Pearson slumped to the bottom of the index during mid-morning deals. The education publisher announced Wednesday that it expects higher savings from cost cuts as it continues to go through a major restructuring. But it also said that revenue at its core U.S. business was slowing. Shares of the London-listed stock slipped nearly 6 percent.

On the data front, Britain’s inflation rate fell to its lowest level in nearly two years in December, according to official data published Wednesday. Consumer prices rose at an annual pace of 2.1 percent in December, slipping from 2.3 percent in November. The fall was exacerbated by falling fuel prices, providing some support for consumers who have reined in their spending ahead of Brexit.

J.P. Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said Wednesday that it would be in the United Kingdom’s best interest to avoid a hard exit from the European Union. “I think a hard Brexit will be a disaster for Great Britain,” Dimon said at the Economic Club of New York. A hard Brexit refers to the U.K. leaving the EU without access to the bloc’s single market and customs union. Dimon’s comments came a day after the British Parliament shot down a proposed Brexit deal by Prime Minister Theresa May’s government.

J.P. Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said Wednesday that it would be in the United Kingdom’s best interest to avoid a hard exit from the European Union.

“I think a hard Brexit will be a disaster for Great Britain,” Dimon said at the Economic Club of New York. “We don’t think it will happen because it’s bad for Europe too.”

A hard Brexit refers to the U.K. leaving the EU without access to the bloc’s single market and customs union.

Dimon’s comments came a day after the British Parliament shot down a proposed Brexit deal by Prime Minister Theresa May’s government. That proposed deal had been previously approved by the EU. The deal’s defeat throws the exit process into chaos as the U.K. now has until Jan. 21 to push through a new agreement. It also led Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn to call for a vote of no confidence in the government. May won the vote later on Wednesday.

“The Brits were dealt a bad hand and they played it badly,” Dimon said. “I’m hoping they have a withdrawal agreement that gives them two to four years to negotiate a real deal.”

“We spent hundreds of millions of dollars to be prepared but a lot of people aren’t,” Dimon added about his bank’s plans.

A majority of U.K. voters in June 2016 backed leaving the EU. That decision sent ripples through global markets. The pound, for example, has lost more than 14 percent of its value against the dollar since then.

U.S. stock futures were slightly higher on Wednesday, following a parliamentary defeat for British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal. Dow futures were 76 points higher as of 2:12 a.m. ET, indicating a 26 point rise at the open, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were also higher. Traders were digesting news that the U.K. leader had lost a vote on her Brexit deal by 230 votes, which is believed to be the highest margin of defeat for any sitting government in British political history. Meanwh

U.S. stock futures were slightly higher on Wednesday, following a parliamentary defeat for British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal.

Dow futures were 76 points higher as of 2:12 a.m. ET, indicating a 26 point rise at the open, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were also higher.

Traders were digesting news that the U.K. leader had lost a vote on her Brexit deal by 230 votes, which is believed to be the highest margin of defeat for any sitting government in British political history.

May told lawmakers that her Conservative government “will listen” following the vote and that a statement will be made in Parliament on January 21 where the prime minister is due to present a “plan B” for the withdrawal agreement.

U.K. opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn, who leads Britain’s Labour party, said he has tabled a motion of no confidence in the government that will be debated and voted on Wednesday. Sterling was barely changed Wednesday, trading just below the flatline versus the dollar at $1.2855.

In other political news, the partial U.S. government shutdown — the longest in history — has extended into its 26th day, as a standoff between Democrats and the Trump administration over the president’s border wall money shows no signs of being resolved any time soon.

Meanwhile, China’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China, made its biggest ever daily net cash injection via reverse repo operations, totaling $82.73 billion. The news came after comments from the Chinese state planner and Premier Li Keqiang suggested the country would inject more stimulus amid concerns of a slowdown in economic growth.

Gold held steady on Wednesday, supported by a slight retreat in the dollar while gains were capped by a modest recovery in equities, as caution set in ahead of a no-confidence vote on British Prime Minister Theresa May’s government. Spot gold was unchanged at $1,289.01 per ounce at 1101 GMT, while U.S. gold futures were little changed at $1,288.80 per ounce. Gold seems to be finding a hurdle at $1,300, said Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch, adding that physical demand for gold coins had picke

Gold held steady on Wednesday, supported by a slight retreat in the dollar while gains were capped by a modest recovery in equities, as caution set in ahead of a no-confidence vote on British Prime Minister Theresa May’s government.

Spot gold was unchanged at $1,289.01 per ounce at 1101 GMT, while U.S. gold futures were little changed at $1,288.80 per ounce.

Gold seems to be finding a hurdle at $1,300, said Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch, adding that physical demand for gold coins had picked up in Britain, aided by Brexit uncertainty.

“Stock markets have recovered and the pricing in of the U.S. Federal Reserve rate hike has almost ended. Political uncertainty remains and that does not seem enough to push gold past $1,300.”

Stock markets stabilised after strong volatility at the end of last year, drawing solace from the resumption of China-U.S. trade talks.

British opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn called a vote of no confidence in May’s government, to be held at 1900 GMT, after her Brexit deal was defeated by lawmakers on Tuesday.

The date set for Britain’s departure from the European Union is March 29, but with the deadline approaching quickly, markets anticipate a likely extension.

The increased likelihood of a disorderly Brexit and the extension of a partial U.S. government shutdown have helped keep gold well supported near a more than six-month high of $1,298.42 hit on Jan. 4.

Markets betting that the U.S. Fed will slow its interest rate hikes also kept afresh the precious metal’s appeal.

Gold has, however, not seen a big impact from Brexit developments thus far, said Natixis analyst Bernard Dahdah, adding that “we will have to wait and see if it’s going to be a disorderly Brexit or not”.

“Generally speaking, the impact of Brexit hasn’t been as large on the price of gold as people thought it would be. It’s the dollar that’s still the main driver behind the prices of gold.”

Spot gold remains neutral in a range of $1,285-$1,299 per ounce, and an escape could suggest a direction, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said.

Among other precious metals, palladium rose 0.8 percent to $1,328 an ounce.

U.S. government debt prices were lower on Wednesday as traders digested news of the defeat of U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.729 percent, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond increased to 3.091 percent. May suffered a huge defeat in Parliament on Tuesday, which saw her Brexit deal voted down by 230 votes, which has been reported to be the highest margin of defeat for any sitting government in U.K. political histor

U.S. government debt prices were lower on Wednesday as traders digested news of the defeat of U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.729 percent, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond increased to 3.091 percent. Bond yields move inversely to prices.

May suffered a huge defeat in Parliament on Tuesday, which saw her Brexit deal voted down by 230 votes, which has been reported to be the highest margin of defeat for any sitting government in U.K. political history.

The prime minister told Parliament’s lower chamber that her Conservative government “will listen” to lawmakers’ concerns over the deal following the vote. The government will make a statement in the Parliament on Jan. 21, where she is expected to present a “plan B” for the divorce agreement.

Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the opposition Labour Party, tabled a motion of no-confidence in the government, which will be debated and voted on Wednesday. Sterling gained 0.1 percent against the dollar during morning trade, last changing hands at $1.2871.

In political news stateside, the partial U.S. government shutdown — the longest in history — has entered its 26th day. A political stalemate between the Democrats and the Trump administration over funding for President Trump’s proposed border wall has shown no signs of abating.